China’s powerhouse vision for 2050 – Jonathan Watts

By 2050 China will have eradicated poverty, established itself as a world power in science and lifted the average lifespan of its billion-plus citizens to 80 years, according to two blueprints for the future published yesterday.

Even by the standards of a country that has a passion for long-term economic plans, the targets – which foresee the relocation of 500 million peasants to cities, huge investment in biotechnology and the addition of hundreds of millions more cars to the streets – are ambitious, but give an indication of how the nation would like to see itself in the middle of the century.